Citizens in Iran and China are tired of the official, government approved information. Now they can also access official, US government approved information. Cool.
The best teachers I had, both in school and college, didn't teach by stuffing pre-digested knowledge down the student's throats. What they did was questioning things that people take for granted, and make the students learn by themselves. Having classes with them was fun, and we could really learn the stuff because we weren't being spoon fed the facts but reaching the conclusions using our own brains.
Not here in Portugal. We have European-grade labour laws that no company respects. They always count on you to work late and on weekends without any pay, which is illegal. And the corporate lobbies keep whining on TV about how hard our labour laws are...
Not all is bad, though. At least about climate, you can't get much better than us:-)
Why do you say that? Americans would be welcome in the work environments I'm used to.
If you're competent enough and not an antisocial prick, you'll be welcome here, as I was in the US a few years ago.
* Cost £60 for a standalone card, or £120+ for a version that works as a passport?
No, we pay € 12. It should be zero, though, IMHO.
* Require taking of biometrics including fingerprints?
Yes, photo and fingerprint. But the old card had the FP printed on it. Now it's inside the chip, not readable from the outside, which is a lot better. The card uses match-on-card technology, you can't read the FP but you can ask the card if a particular FP matches it.
* Is it tied to a national database storing a range of information about everyone?
No, it's tied to the national ID database. But it stores only ID data, not a "range of information"
* Include £1000 fines for failing to notify the Government of a change of personal details such as name, address, gender, or for failing to report a lost or damaged card
When you change address you must change your ID card (you can do it online) and your driver's license. But fines are not that extreme!
How much does it cost to buy one from a corrupt government employee?
There are so many different entities involved that it's almost impossible. Someone will smell smoke and tip it off. Anyway, currently most of it is automated. The only situation that comes to mind is asking for several ID cards for a newborn baby with different names and data. With someone older, they will detect duplicates via fingerprint match.
I read that in downtown Lisbon you can buy forged ID cards (of the old paper model) for a few tenths of Euros.
so long as people don't start asking for my papers just so i can go to the grocery store. Have you had any issues in Portugal like that?
I'm not sure what you're talking about. As I said, we've had ID cards since the 19th century, so it's deeply embedded in our habits. I can use my ID card every time I need to ID myself, in all kinds of situations.
Nobody can force me to show it, except for the cops.
If a barman wants to know if I'm old enough to have a drink or buy cigarettes, I can choose to show my ID card or drivers licence. Or not have a drink.
To open a bank account, I can choose to show my ID card, my passport, or not open an account.
Sometimes there's been abuse, mostly from private entities. Like gas stations retaining your ID while you fill until you pay for the gas, or when you visit a company and the entrance desk clerk retains your ID card during your visit. But government cracks down on these offences very hard.
IMHO, a national ID card is a necessity in these days. In countries where it doesn't exist, entities find ways around and it's even more dangerous, like the SS number abuse in the US and the Big Brother ultra-paranoid vigilant state in UK.
So, that is a problem with central information systems, it has nothing to do with ID or cards. The government can track everything you do without any ID cards, they will simply use other data, like SS number, simply your name, or even credit card.
In Portugal, we have an interesting system. It's constitutionally illegal to identify someone towards the several state services using a single number. We used to have several cards, for ID, for health care, for social security, for taxes, for voting.
Now, we have a single card that has all these numbers printed on the back. The databases are all separated. A worker from the Ministry of Finance can only use your tax payer ID and access only tax information. A Social Security worker can only access your SS data, etc.
It depends a lot on culture. In our country we don't trust the government or private institutions that much. In other countries people have more trust, so they don't mind the databases.
In the UK, there is a paradox. It's a vigilance state, in spite of the Anglo-Saxon culture being so keen on privacy and individual rights. And UK citizens (rightfully) suspect the government doesn't treat their privacy with enough care.
Here in Portugal we've had ID cards since the 19th century. We were pioneers in the usage of smart cards as ID cards, together with Belgium and Finland.
While our old paper ID cards were easily falsifiable, the new smart card is virtually impossible to falsify. It has a lot of physical security measures, a few holograms, engravings, etc. As to the chip, all the data in the chip is digitally signed by the government. The RSA private keys inside are generated by the card during personalisation, and are not extractable. I dare you try to create a false one. The British card seems to be a cheap piece of shit.
Anyway, what's all the fuss about ID cards? What do you use to identify yourself? Social Security card? Driver's license? How hard it is to forge one of these?
I already use Adblock Plus and love it. I recommend it to anyone. I can live without publicity so I don't give a fuck if it goes the way of the dodo.
Advertisements annoy the hell out of me. I don't have money to buy all of their products, so stop diverting my attention.
Even worse, my kids are bombarded with advertisements the whole fucking day. I don't want to educate them to be braindead consumerist pricks, but I have no choice.
Slashdot Mirror
Citizens in Iran and China are tired of the official, government approved information. Now they can also access official, US government approved information. Cool.
I wonder if people can use this too in US-friendly repressive regimes, like Saudi Arabia. Or this is only for the "baddies"?
I can't see nothing moderate about Labour or Tories.
Congratulations. Your wife is really gifted.
Yes. But it's not ok to drive a car without at least half an idea about where the gas goes, how to use the turn indicator, and so on.
What do you mean? Most people around here don't use turn indicators, and the more expensive the car, the less they use them.
The best teachers I had, both in school and college, didn't teach by stuffing pre-digested knowledge down the student's throats. What they did was questioning things that people take for granted, and make the students learn by themselves. Having classes with them was fun, and we could really learn the stuff because we weren't being spoon fed the facts but reaching the conclusions using our own brains.
Almost every student hated them.
Things like grass lawns and vacations also used to be the exclusive playthings of the wealthy.
And they're still playthings of the wealthy. How many people in the world do you think have grass lawns and vacations?
Wooooooooosh!
It must be "the best education system in the world".
Don't worry, the Earth will remain inhabitable even in the most dark of the global warming scenarios.
Just not by humans.
Not here in Portugal. We have European-grade labour laws that no company respects. They always count on you to work late and on weekends without any pay, which is illegal. And the corporate lobbies keep whining on TV about how hard our labour laws are...
Not all is bad, though. At least about climate, you can't get much better than us :-)
Why do you say that? Americans would be welcome in the work environments I'm used to. If you're competent enough and not an antisocial prick, you'll be welcome here, as I was in the US a few years ago.
Dude, you're up to an "A" grade.
If I were to claim that I invented a machine that produced more energy than I put in, would I get a fair hearing?
If you can prove it, yes. And you'll revolutionise Physics, along the way. See, that's the thing about science. Dogmas don't work.
Yeah, then generate a certificate for those keys and have the government sign it. It's not that easy, man.
Fuck! I didn't know that. That's absurd and outrageous. Our card is meant to be used offline.
Dear Brits, you're going down a dangerous slope towards a fascist state.
Do the cards in Portugal:
* Cost £60 for a standalone card, or £120+ for a version that works as a passport?
No, we pay € 12. It should be zero, though, IMHO.
* Require taking of biometrics including fingerprints?
Yes, photo and fingerprint. But the old card had the FP printed on it. Now it's inside the chip, not readable from the outside, which is a lot better. The card uses match-on-card technology, you can't read the FP but you can ask the card if a particular FP matches it.
* Is it tied to a national database storing a range of information about everyone?
No, it's tied to the national ID database. But it stores only ID data, not a "range of information"
* Include £1000 fines for failing to notify the Government of a change of personal details such as name, address, gender, or for failing to report a lost or damaged card
When you change address you must change your ID card (you can do it online) and your driver's license. But fines are not that extreme!
How much does it cost to buy one from a corrupt government employee?
There are so many different entities involved that it's almost impossible. Someone will smell smoke and tip it off. Anyway, currently most of it is automated. The only situation that comes to mind is asking for several ID cards for a newborn baby with different names and data. With someone older, they will detect duplicates via fingerprint match.
I read that in downtown Lisbon you can buy forged ID cards (of the old paper model) for a few tenths of Euros.
so long as people don't start asking for my papers just so i can go to the grocery store. Have you had any issues in Portugal like that?
I'm not sure what you're talking about. As I said, we've had ID cards since the 19th century, so it's deeply embedded in our habits. I can use my ID card every time I need to ID myself, in all kinds of situations.
Nobody can force me to show it, except for the cops. If a barman wants to know if I'm old enough to have a drink or buy cigarettes, I can choose to show my ID card or drivers licence. Or not have a drink. To open a bank account, I can choose to show my ID card, my passport, or not open an account.
Sometimes there's been abuse, mostly from private entities. Like gas stations retaining your ID while you fill until you pay for the gas, or when you visit a company and the entrance desk clerk retains your ID card during your visit. But government cracks down on these offences very hard.
IMHO, a national ID card is a necessity in these days. In countries where it doesn't exist, entities find ways around and it's even more dangerous, like the SS number abuse in the US and the Big Brother ultra-paranoid vigilant state in UK.
So, that is a problem with central information systems, it has nothing to do with ID or cards. The government can track everything you do without any ID cards, they will simply use other data, like SS number, simply your name, or even credit card.
In Portugal, we have an interesting system. It's constitutionally illegal to identify someone towards the several state services using a single number. We used to have several cards, for ID, for health care, for social security, for taxes, for voting.
Now, we have a single card that has all these numbers printed on the back. The databases are all separated. A worker from the Ministry of Finance can only use your tax payer ID and access only tax information. A Social Security worker can only access your SS data, etc.
It depends a lot on culture. In our country we don't trust the government or private institutions that much. In other countries people have more trust, so they don't mind the databases.
In the UK, there is a paradox. It's a vigilance state, in spite of the Anglo-Saxon culture being so keen on privacy and individual rights. And UK citizens (rightfully) suspect the government doesn't treat their privacy with enough care.
Here in Portugal we've had ID cards since the 19th century. We were pioneers in the usage of smart cards as ID cards, together with Belgium and Finland.
While our old paper ID cards were easily falsifiable, the new smart card is virtually impossible to falsify. It has a lot of physical security measures, a few holograms, engravings, etc. As to the chip, all the data in the chip is digitally signed by the government. The RSA private keys inside are generated by the card during personalisation, and are not extractable. I dare you try to create a false one. The British card seems to be a cheap piece of shit.
Anyway, what's all the fuss about ID cards? What do you use to identify yourself? Social Security card? Driver's license? How hard it is to forge one of these?
I already use Adblock Plus and love it. I recommend it to anyone. I can live without publicity so I don't give a fuck if it goes the way of the dodo.
Advertisements annoy the hell out of me. I don't have money to buy all of their products, so stop diverting my attention.
Even worse, my kids are bombarded with advertisements the whole fucking day. I don't want to educate them to be braindead consumerist pricks, but I have no choice.
I, for one, welcome our new digital, 3D modeled, prehistoric, giant spider overlords.
Well, maybe they weren't giant, but it's creepier this way.
Wow, did you just basically wave your hands and say "what-EVA" in a valley girl voice?
It's more like "fuck you" with a south-European man voice.
You're full of shit, but I can't contradict you because you won't believe any evidence I may show you. If you don't like it, you just call it a lie.
Enjoy your little delusional world.